Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews new South Dakota State coach TJ Otzelberger

Posted on September 17, 2016 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of Jon Teitel’s preseason interviews and articles

We continue our 2016-17 season preview interview series with new South Dakota State coach TJ Otzelberger.  He has always been a great recruiter while working for former Iowa State head coaches Greg McDermott/Fred Hoiberg, and now we get to see how he does while running a  program of his own.  He was hired as head coach of the Jackrabbits in April and he will get tested quickly with a non-conference schedule featuring several teams from the NCAA tourney last March.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Otzelberger about his recruiting philosophy and the best athlete in his family (we also wish him a happy birthday today!). 

tj

You played basketball at Wisconsin-Whitewater: how good a player were you back in the day, and how did you get into coaching? I was a very average player at best, so I took a lot of pride in just getting to play in college and having a chance to start my career. I had a job lined up in the business world but my old high school coach said that he thought I might have the coaching bug: I tried it and was hooked.

In the 2013 NCAA tourney as an assistant to Fred Hoiberg at Iowa State, Aaron Craft scored 18 PTS including a 3-PT shot with 0.5 seconds left in a 3-PT win by Ohio State: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? That is really high up there. We had an opportunity to win at Kansas that same year and they banked in a 3 at the buzzer. Craft had that shot available all game long and elected not to take it, and then he stepped up at the end and made it.

In the 2016 NCAA tourney your new team had a 5-PT loss to Maryland: what do you think they learned from that game that can help them this year? I watched the game: I think that it will teach us to schedule against teams with athleticism/quickness in non-conference play so that we are prepared for the postseason. We have to schedule very competitively.

In April you were named head coach of the Jackrabbits: why did you take the job? I have been fortunate to work for 4 highly successful coaches: they won in different ways, which helped prepare me to have success. My wife and I love being in a college town where basketball is a big deal, and it is a great environment to raise a family. From a professional standpoint you want to be at a school that is committed to winning at the highest level, and South Dakota State offered that to us.

Your non-conference schedule includes games against Cal/Northern Iowa/Wichita State: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? A lot of the schedule was already in place when I came on board, but we were fortunate that Cal offered us the opportunity to go on the road and play an NCAA tourney team who had a top-5 draft pick in Jaylen Brown. It is an immediate challenge to see where we were at, and is great for Mike Daum to play against a guy of Ivan Rabb’s quality. In the long term the experience we will get from it will be great.

You only have 2 seniors on the roster: do you think this team is built to win now or is it going to be a work in progress? I am still evaluating each day on what everyone needs to improve on. We return 8 players, 4 of whom played significant minutes last year, so our approach is to put 100% into each day and just focus on the process. We lost our top-4 guards from last year but we just want to make this team the best we can this year.

You also have 3 in-state players on the roster: what sort of recruiting philosophy will you have in terms of geography? We are going to try and do a great job of in-state recruiting and be very aggressive early in the process. However, my staff and I have a background of recruiting throughout the Midwest, and if the talent we need does not exist in our region then we will utilize relationships elsewhere and recruit nationally.

SO PF Mike Daum won almost every award in the Summit League last year: what makes him such a great player? He has great character and a great work ethic. He has persevered through a lot of ups and downs and very few schools recruited him coming out of high school. He redshirted as a freshman and continued to grow as a person/player. He is an unbelievable teammate who takes care of his business every day. I think that those awards will continue to come for him.

Your wife Alison played in the WNBA: who is the best athlete in the family? My wife is absolutely/unequivocally the best athlete in the family!

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? It is exciting to be in a place that expects to win but we will not get ahead of ourselves. We expect to be at the top of the conference and compete year in and year out. When you play 3 games in 3 days during a conference tourney anything can happen, but we will try to do the best we can, maximize our strengths, and play together as a team.

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Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews North Texas assistant coach Rob Evans

Posted on September 14, 2016 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of Jon Teitel’s preseason articles and interviews

We continue our 2016-17 season preview interview series with North Texas assistant coach Rob Evans.  There are few current assistant coaches with more prior head coaching experience: 6 years at Mississippi, 8 years at Arizona State, and 3 trips to the NCAA tourney.  Now he works for Mean Green head coach Tony Benford, who was recruited to play for Texas Tech by Coach Evans back in the 1980s.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Evans about being on the short end of 1 of the most famous shots in NCAA tourney history and bringing in a McDonald’s All-American transfer (we also wish him a happy belated birthday last week!).

evans

You played basketball at Hobbs High School for legendary coach Ralph Tasker: what made him such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? I feel that he was before his time in terms of getting the most out of his players whether we were the best player on the team or the 12th-best player. He was the fairest guy in the world: we had some good players at the all-Black school and after they integrated the school system he made it known that if we were good enough then we would play for him. He taught me a lot about the integrity of the game: I remember him taking 1 of our great players out of a game after he missed me when I cut to the basket for an open layup.

You began your college career as an All-American at Lubbock Christian JC before transferring to New Mexico State, where you made a pair of NCAA tourneys and were later named to the school’s all-time basketball team: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? I was actually named to the all-time team at both schools: they are retiring my # at Lubbock later this month. The honors I have received all mean a lot to me because they come from people who know me and spent time with me on a daily basis.

In the 1970 Final 4 as an assistant to Lou Henson at your alma mater, you lost to eventual champion UCLA before a 6-PT win over St. Bonaventure in the 3rd place game: what was it like to face 3-time defending champ John Wooden with a spot in the title game on the line? It was interesting: we were in the West region so we knew that we would meet them somewhere. We played some great teams in the NCAA tourney during my playing career: we lost to Houston (with Elvin Hayes) and UCLA (with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). We played UCLA again during my 1st year as an assistant coach and lost to them: nobody was beating the Bruins during that time!

In 1992 you were hired at Ole Miss as its 1st African-American coach in a major sport: how big a deal was it at the time, and how were you able to end up with the 1st 20-win season in school history in 1997? When I went to work for Coach Henson at age 21 he told me to recruit the South: I asked him how to get there and he said “I do not care”! I worked the whole South out of a hotel in Jackson, MS. When they offered me the job the AD was my former teammate Gerald Turner (the current SMU president), who I have known since age 17. When I got there the program was the worst 1 in the country: Coach Eddie Sutton told me not to take the job but I gave it a shot. Someone said I built it from the ground up…but Nolan Richardson said I built it from underneath the ground! I started to recruit in Arkansas/Louisiana and built up the program with some really good athletes on the defensive end of the floor. My philosophy was not to worry about what we did not have but rather just try to improve what we did have. 1 of my PGs was Mike White, who is now the head coach at Florida. I later left for ASU to be closer to my family.

In the 1998 NCAA tourney Bryce Drew scored 22 PTS including 1 of the most famous shots in NCAA tourney history at the buzzer in a 1-PT win by Valparaiso: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? It is probably the most devastating. I spent a lot of time on the road recruiting and we spent a lot of time having everyone from the fraternities/sororities attend our games. The 1st game in the NCAA tourney is always the toughest. We were not playing our best but had a 2-PT lead with our best FT shooter (Ansu Sesay) at the line with 5 seconds left. I took everyone off the line except for Keith Carter, who got a hand on the ball after the 2nd missed FT. I was so sad for our fans because they had been down for so long.

Your non-conference schedule includes games against Texas Tech/Rutgers: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? I think both of those teams will be a really big test, but Texas Tech will be a tough task because I coached there for 15 years. I talked to Bill Self and he said that the Red Raiders will be 1 of the toughest teams in the Big 12. Rutgers will be tough because of the timing with 4-5 games in a 10-day stretch.

You have a couple of transfers from major in-state programs including J-Mychal Reese (Texas A&M)/Keith Frazier (SMU): what is the key to having everyone come together and bond as a team? I always feel that you have to figure out why a kid is leaving: not enough playing time, his specific role, postseason ineligibility, etc. You have to make them understand that they have to conform to our system just like everyone else.

As an assistant to Gerald Myers at Texas Tech you recruited Tony Benford to play for the Red Raiders, where he became 1986 SWC tourney MVP: how did you convince him to sign, and how do you like being his assistant 3 decades later? Tony also played for Coach Tasker in Hobbs, NM, and we have some family connections: I told him that I was asking him to play for me…and that if he declined then I would go speak to his mother!

Tony has not finished with a record above .500 during any of his 4 years in Denton: is he on the hot seat or is just a matter of trying to keep improving from 1 year to the next? Every coach is on the hot seat: I talked to Coach Self before he won an NCAA title about how difficult it was to win 20 games in a season, and he mentioned that no coaches are out there having fun. We knew that we needed to adjust some things and change the mindset of our kids and we feel that we have the right kind of kids to do what we want to do. I feel that Tony has really matured as a coach and I have given him everything that I can give him.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? Our goals are always the same: it is a cliché but we are trying to win ever game, get to the NCAA tourney, and win a title. Barring injuries, we feel that we have enough talent to have a very good team.

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Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews new Pitt head coach Kevin Stallings

Posted on September 12, 2016 by Jon Teitel

CLICK HERE for all of Jon Teitel’s Preseason Articles and Interviews

We continue our 2016-17 season preview interview series with new Pitt head coach Kevin Stallings.  His first taste of the Final 4 was as a player for Lee Rose at Purdue in 1980, then made it to the title game as an assistant to Roy Williams at Kansas in 1991.  The Panthers needed a new coach after Jamie Dixon headed south to his alma mater of TCU, so they hired the former top guy at Vanderbilt who has made the postseason in 16 of his past 20 seasons.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Stallings about winning in March and starting a new chapter in the Steel City.

stallings

Take me through the 1980 Final 4 as a player at Purdue: It was a long time ago! We were led by Joe Barry Carroll (who ended up being the #1 overall pick that spring) and had to beat Indiana/Duke just to advance to the Final 4. The Final 4 was in Indianapolis so we just got on a bus and drove 75 minutes to get there. I hurt my back in practice the day before the semifinal game and only ended up playing 1 minute in the game due to some back spasms before I was done for the day. We played pretty well in the 3rd place game and beat Iowa, which was the 2nd-to-last year that they held it.

Keith Edmonson scored 23 PTS in a 5-PT loss to UCLA: what sort of a home-court advantage did you have (if any) playing at Market Square Arena? I do not recall the crowd as much because I was so overwhelmed and was in a lot of pain because my back was killing me.

You scored 4 PTS in the consolation game against Iowa: how were you able to stay motivated after losing to the Bruins? Back then it was just an expected part of the Final 4. I remember Coach Lee Rose telling us that he had never told any of his teams previously, but told us to be careful with Hawkeyes guard Ronnie Lester because he had hurt his knee and Coach Rose did not want us to take a chance on injuring his knee any further. It was the 3rd time we played Iowa that season.

You played for Coach Gene Keady before becoming his assistant: what made him such a great coach, and what was the most important thing that you ever learned from him? There were a lot of things that made him great, but 1 was that he had a tremendous feel for how to motivate people and the right thing to say at the right time. He also had a very short memory when it came to certain things and could forgive/forget almost immediately. If a player did something poorly or if I screwed up the scouting report as an assistant he would get over it quickly and not dwell on it. He had a great feel for people: he could touch everyone in the room. It felt like he was talking only to you but then you would walk out of the room and 5 other guys would say they felt the same way. It was an amazing skill/ability: he could do it time and time again.

In the 1991 NCAA title game as an assistant coach to Roy Williams at Kansas, you had a 7-PT loss to Duke and Coach Mike Krzyzewski: could you have ever imagined that 25 years later you would be in the same conference as those 2 coaching legends? I always thought that I would become a head coach but never thought about who I might or might not be in the league with. It is a privilege to be with guys like that in the ACC, but we had great coaches in the MVC like Jim Crews/Tubby Smith and then obviously Billy Donovan in the SEC. When you walk into a league with 4 guys already in the Hall of Fame, that is about as good as it gets.

In the 1998 NCAA tourney as coach at Illinois State, Dan Muller scored 8 PTS including a layup with 2 seconds left in a 1-PT OT win over Tennessee: where does that rank among the most clutch shots that you have ever seen? The thing that I liked about that play more than anything else was that Tennessee had scored on the previous possession to take the lead with 17 seconds left after the refs missed a charging foul. I had a veteran group and with that kind of time I felt that our guys would have enough time to find the right shot, so I did not call a timeout. We were down 1 in the final seconds of OT but we came down and were very calm. The possession was so beautiful: we worked the ball around and had a kid take off on a baseline drive, and when Dan’s man stared at the ball and stopped coverin him, Dan just cut to the basket for the most wide-open layup of all time! What I remember the most is that he laid it in with 1.7 seconds left: 4 guys jumped up and down and started to celebrate while Dan (a 2-time Academic All-American) snapped his head around to look at the scoreboard and sprinted back to play defense. Tennessee had no timeouts but was able to take a 30-footer from the hash mark and Dan almost blocked it. Fortunately I had 1 guy that did the right thing on both ends of the court.

In the 2004 NCAA tourney as coach at Vanderbilt, Matt Freije scored 31 PTS in a 2-PT upset of #3-seed NC State: how were you able to overcome an 11-PT deficit in the final 3 minutes? We had a ton of adversity that year due to a lot of things. Matt is still probably the best leader that I have ever coached: he never let our guys stop playing and he heated up to get our mojo going in the 2nd half. I think NC State tightened up when we closed the gap, and their best player (Julius Hodge) fouled out with about 4 minutes left, so their go-to guy not being there caused even more tightness. Ironically, Dan Muller was my assistant coach at that point. We had the ball down by 1 PT with 30-40 seconds left, and he came up behind me and told me to run “Circle”, which was a backdoor play we had. Without even thinking I yelled out “Circle”, and Corey Smith made a 3-PT play to go up by 2 PTS and ended up winnig the game. Dan made a layup to win 1 tourney game and called the game-winning play in another!

You have made the postseason in 16 of your past 20 years on the sideline: how have you been able to remain so consistent over such a long period of time? I had great mentoring from Gene Keady/Roy Williams, and those fundamentals/basics have carried me throughout my coaching career both on and off the floor. I have had great assistant coaches and we have been able to get really good players. When you have a good plan and good people, that is the best you can do to set yourself up for success.

In March you were named head coach at Pitt after spending the past 17 years at Vanderbilt: how is the transition going so far? I have really enjoyed the 1st few months on the job and enjoyed the people. It is a different “sell” here than at Vandy, and I am really enjoying the differences as well as the progressive/aggressive vision that exists within the university/athletic department. We have every chance for success here due to our resources/great people in place.

You have an impressive coaching tree: how do you think that your former assistant Tim Jankovich is going to do as the new coach at SMU, and are we going to see the Mustangs on your schedule anytime soon? I do not know about the scheduling piece, but I think that Tim will do very well there. Everyone knows that Larry Brown is a terrific coach, and I think that Tim has been a large reason why they have been extraordinarily successful already.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? My goal is for our team to have the most memorable season/basketball experience of these players’ lives. I hope we can win a lot of games and then do something special in March. My goals always revolved around their experience, and I know that winning provides a greater experience than losing. I expect us to play with great energy/effort and an obvious selflessness, as well as a tenacity/toughness that is representative of the city/university.

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Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews Northern Iowa SR SG Jeremy Morgan

Posted on September 9, 2016 by Jon Teitel

For all of Jon Teitel’s Preseason Interviews and Articles – CLICK HERE

We continue our 2016-17 season preview interview series with Northern Iowa SR SG Jeremy Morgan. He has started every single game for the Panthers during the past 2 years and does a little of everything: he blocks shots, knocks down more than 80% of his FTs, and even led the conference in SPG.  He was also front and center for 2 of the wildest finishes in the NCAA tourney last March: a half-court buzzer beater and a double-OT stunner.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Jeremy about being a senior leader and coming from a basketball family.

morgan

You grew up in Coralville, IA: what made you choose the Panthers? It felt like home to me when I came up here on my visit. I got along great with the players/coaches and it felt like the right spot for me.

Last year you led the conference with 1.9 SPG: what is your secret for being a great defender? I do not know if there is a secret: I just like to go out and play hard on both ends of the court. It feels good to contribute on defense if you are not scoring a lot on offense.

You also had 32 BLK: how on earth were you able to do that as a 6’5” guard?! It is just about making the effort and using my ability to affect as many shots as I can on defense.

Your 80.5 FT% was #4 in the conference: what is the key to making FTs? We shoot a lot of them every day and try to get in some extra shots before games.

Take me through the unforgettable 2016 NCAA tourney:
You scored 16 PTS and Paul Jesperson banked in a half-court shot at the buzzer in a 3-PT win over Texas: did you think the shot was going in, and what was your reaction like after he made it? I had no idea if it was going in but I certainly hoped it was. After it went in I felt the most excited that I have ever been: I think I was the 1st 1 to run over to Paul and hug him.

You scored a school tourney-record 36 PTS in a 4-PT 2-OT loss to Texas A&M after the Aggies overcame a 12-PT deficit with 44 seconds left in regulation: how do you try to overcome such a devastating loss, and what did you learn from that game that you think can help you this year? Obviously it is not very easy to get over it but hopefully we can learn from it as we get ready for next season.

You play for Coach Ben Jacobson: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have ever learned from him? He believes in all of us: whenever things are not going our way he does a great job of bringing everyone together. 1 of the things he has been working on with the older guys is developing a sense of toughness. Basketball is much more of a mental game than most people think so he tries to build our character and make us better people, not just better basketball players.

Your non-conference schedule is loaded once again including several teams who made the tourney last March like Xavier/Iowa/North Carolina: which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? All of them will be tough especially because they are all on the road. I am just excited to go attack those challenges with our team.

You are the only senior on the roster: how much pressure is there on you to be a leader this year? All seniors feel pressure because you only have 1 chance to play college ball so we just try to bring the young guys along with us.

Your father Michael played basketball at Iowa, your mother Cris played basketball at Drake, and your sister Mikaela plays for the UNI women’s basketball team: who is the best athlete in the family, and do you credit at least some of your success to genetics? I do not know which of us is the best: we are all pretty talented, including my younger siblings. The genetics are there a little bit but I tell my younger siblings to keep working hard to develop different parts of their game.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? I have a lot of goals. I do not know how many teams have been able to 3-peat in the MVC tourney so that would be neat. I also want to find another gear and make it back to the NCAA tourney again.

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Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews Dayton SR PG Kyle Davis

Posted on September 5, 2016 by Jon Teitel

We continue our 2016-17 season preview interview series with Dayton SR PG Kyle Davis.  He has started every single game for the Flyers during the past 2 years and developed a reputation as a clutch shooter by making game winning shots last season against Miami Ohio/VCU.  In addition to his production on the offensive end he was also named the team’s Best Defender as a freshman and sophomore.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with KD about being a senior leader and making 3 straight NCAA tourneys…so far.

kyle

You grew up in Chicago and received a ton of scholarship offers, but said that you choose Dayton due to your connection with their players/coaches and their style of play: what part of their style has been the best fit for you? Coach Miller just lets his players play to their strengths: we can run up and down the court and I like how the offense flows.

You won the team’s Best Defender Award as both a freshman and sophomore: what is your secret for playing great defense? Coming from Chicago I had to play against some of the toughest players in the city so I took pride in playing defense and found my niche as a defender in college.

In the 2014 NCAA tourney Vee Sanford made a layup with 3.8 seconds left in a 1-PT win over Ohio State: for people who live outside the state, can you explain how big a deal that was? It was a big deal throughout the state because the Buckeyes are supposed to be the big program that runs the state, so for a “little” school like us to actually beat them meant a lot.

In the 2015 1st 4 you scored 3 PTS in a 1-PT win over Boise State: how much of a home-court advantage did you have at UD Arena, and were you worried that the refs were going to call a foul on you when Derrick Marks leaned into you before missing a 3-PT shot at the buzzer? We had a big home court advantage as well as support from people all around the world. I was not really worried about getting called for a foul: I left my feet but went straight up while Marks tried to initiate the contact.

Last year you were a co-captain and made a pair of game-winning shots against Miami OH/VCU: what is the key to being a good leader/clutch player? The key to being a good leader is just leading by example both on the court and in the classroom. I try to be vocal every day and teach the younger guys whatever I can. The leaders our team had during my freshman year did not jump down our backs: it was a teaching point for us since the coaches are on our backs every day. There is no key to being clutch: Coach tells all of us to always be ready at the key moments so I was focused when I got my chance.

In the 2016 NCAA tourney you scored 9 PTS in a loss to Syracuse: do you think the Orange were out for revenge after you beat them in the 2014 NCAA tourney, and what did you learn from the loss that you think will help you this year? I do not think they were out for revenge: we were just not as mentally focused/prepared as we should have been as a team. We were looking ahead and it just caught up with us at the end. It was a tough loss but it is motivation for us as we gear up for our final season as seniors.

You are 1 of 7 seniors on the roster: how crucial will all of that experience be to your team’s success? It is valuable to our team because we have been in clutch moments before and know what to do. However, we cannot win every game by ourselves so we need to get our younger players into the game and build trust in them during clutch situations.

You play for Coach Archie Miller: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have ever learned from him? He understands the game because he played it on the highest level. He motivates us every day in practice both individually and as a team. I was not playing great defense last year down the stretch but he always told me that he believed in me.

1 of your 2 freshmen is 6’10” Kostas Antetokounmpo, whose brothers Giannis/Thanasis are in the NBA: have you learned how to pronounce his name yet, and do you think he will have a big impact this year as the tallest player on the team? I learned how to pronounce his 1st name…but his last name is kind of difficult! I got a feel for his game during an open gym: he has a lot to learn but is a great piece to our puzzle.

What are your goals for the upcoming season, and what are your expectations for the upcoming season? My goal is to take 1 game at a time, win the regular season title, and hopefully win the A-10 tourney. I would also love to make the NCAA tourney for the 4th year in a row.  I expect us to give our all and leave everything out on the court.

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Season Preview: HoopsHD interviews Hofstra assistant coach Craig “Speedy” Claxton

Posted on September 3, 2016 by Jon Teitel

We continue our 2016-17 season preview interview series with Hofstra assistant coach Craig “Speedy” Claxton.  20 years ago this month Hofstra was beginning the 1996-1997 school year with an undersized PG and a head coach coming off back-to-back 18-loss seasons.  20 years later the PG (Claxton) is a trusted member of the staff for an NIT team that was 2 PTS away from knocking off the eventual NIT champs (GW) and the coach (Jay Wright) is a national champion.  Speedy comes from a basketball family: his sister Lisa played at St. John’s and his brother Michael played at Villanova.  He was a 2-time conference POY at Hofstra before being drafted 20th overall by Philly in the 2000 NBA Draft, and after being traded to San Antonio he won an NBA title in 2003.  He has given back to his alma mater by donating money to help build their arena, which is only part of the reason that his #10 was retired by the Pride in 2009 and he was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2011.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Coach Claxton about his nifty nickname and helping his team win the 2000 America East conference tourney.

speedy

Your nickname is “Speedy”: how did you get the nickname, and how do you like it? I was in the 8th grade and 1 of the coaches I used to play against did not really know my name so he just referred to me as “the speedy kid”. I ended up going to high school with a few of his players and they called me “Speedy”.

You played at Christ the King High School in Queens, where 1 of your teammates was Lamar Odom: how good was Odom back then, and could you tell at the time that he was going to become a star? I always knew that he was something special. He came in at 6’1” before shooting up to 6”8 but still maintained his guard skills.

You were a 2-time conference POY at Hofstra: what did it mean to you to win such outstanding honors? It was special to win it as a sophomore because I was so young. I fell off a bit as a junior but got it back as a senior after working hard the previous summer.

You had 24 PTS/8 AST in a 7-PT win over Delaware in the 2000 America East tourney title game at home for the school’s 1st trip to the NCAA tourney since 1977: how big a deal was it to make it to the tourney, and how did it feel to stand on the scorer’s table and watch all the fans storm the court? It was a huge win for us. I actually re-watched it a couple of years ago: it is probably the most memorable moment of my entire basketball career (even over winning an NBA title!). We finally saw everything come to light after putting in a lot of hard work.

What are your memories of the 2000 NCAA tourney (you had 20 PTS/7 AST in a loss to Oklahoma State, who was led by 30 PTS from Desmond Mason)? I think that some of my teammates were just happy to get to the tourney: we struggled coming out of the gate but played them even after that.

You were selected 20th overall in the 2000 draft by Philadelphia: did you see that as a validation of your college career, or the realization of a lifelong dream of reaching the NBA, or other? It meant a great deal to me, like a weight was lifted off of my shoulders. It made all of my hard work pay off and was also a dream come true. I wish that everyone could experience getting drafted because it was great.

Take me through the 2003 NBA playoffs with the Spurs:
Stephon Marbury made a game-winning 3-PT shot for Phoenix at the buzzer in Game 1 of the 1st round: did you think that his shot was going in, and how were you able to bounce back to win the series in 6 games? I did not think it was going in: after it did I knew that it was going to be a long series because they played us so well during the regular season. We just kind of took over from that point: we also lost Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals to Dallas.

The Lakers nearly overcame a 25-PT deficit in Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals before Robert Horry’s potential game-winning 3-PT shot went in and out: do you think you would have lost the series if that shot went in? You never know but thank God it did not go in because it would have been a heartbreaker.

Finals MVP Tim Duncan was 2 BLK shy of a quadruple-double in the Game 6 finale: where does that performance rank among the best that you have ever seen, and what did it mean to you to win the title? That performance was spectacular: I really did not appreciate how good Tim was until I played with him in his prime. It was exciting to win the title.  It is nice to watch the Finals on TV but to be on the court and help your team win was like a dream: I almost had to pinch myself.

Your sister Lisa played basketball for St. John’s and your brother Michael (aka M. Buckets) played for Villanova: who is the best athlete in the family, and do you credit at least some of your success to genetics? My dad was a hell of a soccer/cricket player growing up but I think that I am the best athlete. I had another sister who went to Hofstra so we definitely had an athletic family.

Since retiring you have worked as an NBA scout and as an assistant coach at your alma mater: which job did you enjoy more, and what do you hope to do in the future? I scouted for 3 years and met a lot of front office people to see what that part of the game is about, but I always looked forward to becoming an assistant coach.

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